The scene he met was an appalling one. The smell of burning houses was still faint in the air. Roofs, made of both thatch and zinc that once graced the top of houses around were now nothing but mere dust.
The whole area was in disarray as a couple of dead bodies were being brought out of the crumbled houses.
People were wailing, crying and calling on the Gods of their ancestors, the few Christians around were calling on their Lord too.
He stood a-fixed unable to move or speak. He still could not comprehend the extent to which the fire had brought such destruction.
The worst part of it all was that the people were beginning to form a circle around him and his uncle. They were craving words of encouragement from their supposed "prince".
He on the other hand was too shocked to help them out of their plight.
Was this the kind of problem he would face when he took over the throne? Was he ready for such responsibility?
He knew the answer was no, but what could he do?
His uncle Imonitie nudged him out of his thought with his elbow.
"If you have something to say, this would be the perfect time. They are all looking up to you now."
He took in a deep breath, and used his eyes to scan his surroundings. Once again taking in all that had been gutted by the fire.
He envisioned his once proud and strong father, standing before him.
"What would his father had said" he thought.
He took strength from the image he conjured in his mind, and spoke in a loud booming voice.
"Good people of uromi. Destruction in the form of fire has once again graced our land. It has come to take our children, our daughters, our wives and husbands away from us. Whether this is the wrath of the God's upon us or from our Enemies we know naught but there is one thing I can assure you, our hope, our courage to fight this new unknown enemy if it be manmade will know no bound now. My father as the onojie of this kingdom, is committed to fight this in any way possible."
There was murmuring among the people gathered and after constant bickering a short, bald old man stepped forward.
"My prince, we are happy you took the time to personally come and see us. However we are weary of the happenings around most of us have no homes now, our belongings have been burned, some of the women here have lost their means of livelihood and have become widows. How are they to be helped."
" Thank you for your boldness, my elder."
Iredia said while making an effort to sound calm.
"We have prepared some palliatives for most of you, and for those of you without homes you can come with me to the palace, there are more than enough rooms to house you for a time until you are ready to rebuild what was lost. Loans will also be given to those in need of starting their business all over again."
After hearing this, the people found a reason to smile admits this adversity, some where even clamouring his name.
"Long live prince iredia."
His uncle however did not look pleased with his speech. So he drew him out of the crowd and brought him to a corner with two guards trailing behind them.
" I understand your need to help this people, truly I do but loans? Living in the castle? Your father may not have informed you both the throne is in debt, we cannot afford this."
He smiled at his uncle, patted his back and said
"You worry too much, the people are the reason we are here, everything will be alright. The most important thing now is to find the perpetrators of this dastardly act and bring them to book."
YOU ARE READING
When hearts collide
Romance"So you had sex with him for two million! Two million for a week?" When he put it like that, it sounded demeaning. She felt like a prostitute but that was what she had been for him. Those were for my mother too? He laughed. "You fucked a rich guy...
